The hosts struggled to settle into the match and paid the price in the sixth minute when a giveaway from Andre Schurrle allowed Mauro Icardi to slip a perfectly-weighted through ball into the path of Rodrigo Palacio, who fired home the opener for Inter.

Wolfsburg nearly equalized in the 26th minute when Danny Caligiuri connected on a cross from the left flank and sent a powerful header on frame, but Inter goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo managed to stop the attempt.

Carrizo was helpless just moments later, though, as Naldo headed home the ensuing corner kick delivered by Kevin De Bruyne to level the score.

The Inter netminder then gifted Wolfsburg the go-ahead goal in the 63rd minute as his arrant pass was collected by Vierinha and played square for De Bruyne to tuck home with ease.

De Bruyne wrapped up the victory 14 minutes from time by curling a splendid free kick past Carrizo, granting Wolfsburg a comfortable lead heading into the second leg.

Everton also rallied to get a win in its opening leg at Goodison Park on Thursday, coming from a goal down to earn a 2-1 victory over Dynamo Kyiv.

Oleg Gusev turned in a corner kick at the near post in the 14th minute to put Kyiv in front, but Steven Naismith broke free six minutes before halftime to equalize on a breakaway.

The table was set for the hosts to grind out the win, which they did as Romelu Lukaku converted a penalty in the 82nd minute.

Zenit St. Petersburg jumped out to a 2-0 aggregate lead over Torino with a home victory on Thursday.

Axel Witsel put the Russian side in front in the 38th minute by turning home a rebound, and Domenico Criscito doubled the advantage in similar fashion, pouncing on Hulk’s shot off the post to score from close range.

Dnipro took a shock lead over Ajax as Roman Zozulya produced the lone goal in a 1-0 home win, and Tom De Sutter and Lior Rafaelov scored a goal apiece to lift Club Brugge to a 2-1 win over Besiktas.

Napoli conceded an early goal to Kevin Kuranyi but rallied to earn a 3-1 victory over Dinamo Moscow.

Kuranyi handed the visitors the lead after only two minutes, but a hat trick from Gonzalo Higuain turned the match in favor of the Italian side. Higuain’s goals came in the 25th, 31st and 55th minutes.

Sevilla, meanwhile, claimed an impressive 3-1 win at fellow La Liga side Villarreal.

Goals from Vitolo and Stephane M’Bia gave the visitors the lead before halftime, and while Luciano Dario Vietto pulled one back for Villarreal in the 48th minute, Kevin Gameiro struck two minutes later to put Sevilla in good stead for the return match.

Rounding out Thursday’s Europa League slate, Seydou Keita scored 13 minutes from time to guide AS Roma to a 1-1 draw at Fiorentina.